1812 Re-enactment thrills Village visitors

“It’s been a nightmare,” said Bert Geertsma, a resident of South Dundas, who recently received a bill of $18,313.85 from the Township of South Dundas.

The bill is for Geerstma’s portion of an engineering report for the Barkley Branch to the Weegar McMillan Municipal Drain.

The issue, according to Bert’s brother Jake, began with a simple desire to have the “crick” cleaned out. He had gotten an estimate for the job, approximately $42,000 altogether, and ventured forth to the township to find out how to proceed.

According to Jake, he was told by Don Lewis, manager of planning and enforcement in South Dundas, that he would need to get his neighbours involved by signing a petition.

Armed with 15 names, Jake said that he went back to the township with the paper and then waited for further instruction.

According to Bert, in early November of 2011, affected residents received notification that the Barkley Branch project would cost approximately $350,000 to complete based on an engineering report by SAI Engineering.

Several neighbours withdrew their support for the “cleaning” only to discover that they were now on the hook for the engineering report fee, something the Geertsma brothers maintain they were not informed about prior to the report taking place.

In fact, both brothers maintain that they wanted the Barkley Branch creek cleaned out, but that the report is actually an estimate on creating a whole new municipal drain. “We got a report we never asked for,” said Bert.

“He just went on his own and did it,” said Jake, referring to Lewis.

According to Bert, the engineering report itself cost approximately $41,000 and was divided amongst a handful of residents.

Armed with examples from other Ontario municipalities and backed by his Ottawa lawyer, Donald R. Good, Bert maintains that the initial petition is invalid and, therefore, those listed should not be held accountable for the bill. 

The petition in question is a two-sided form: side A is meant to be a geographical description of the property requiring drainage work while side B is meant for names, contact information, and each land owner’s lot description.

Land owners who signed or printed their names on the form used side A, never actually seeing side B, which has a disclaimer explaining liability.

This alone, said Bert, should have caught the attention of township administration and the form should have been returned with instructions for filling it out properly. This, he said, wasn’t done.

In addition, several properties are co-owned between wife and husband, but only one person has signed. To be legal, he explained, the form requires both signatures.

Not only does the form lack the requisite co-owner signatures, said Bert, but it also lacked the signature of the township clerk.

For these reasons, Bert maintains that the township and the engineer should have recognized the petition as invalid and, therefore, chosen not to proceed.

Speaking for the Township of South Dundas, mayor Steven Byvelds, said that “council had a meeting to consider it. Council did what it had to do with the Act,” maintaining that proper procedures, as outlined by the Drainage Act, were followed.

“The township is trying to wash their hands of us,” said Bert. “I’ve talked to councillors in other townships and they can’t believe what’s going on.”

“All we wanted was a clear out,” emphasized Jake, referring back to the $42,000 estimate he’d already gotten from a “reputable contractor” prior to the whole issue taking place. “We got ripped off big time.”

Bert is committed to proceeding with legal action, if necessary.

[…]

It’s that time again!  The summer has flown by and the 2013-2014 school year is here!  Tuesday, September 3rd marked the first day of this school so hopefully everyone was prepared…staff, students and even the parents!

Hi, my name is Shannon van Moorsel, and I am a grade 12 student here at Seaway.  I love to be involved in things going on around the school such as the sports teams, activity days and Student Council.  I am a proud Spartan!!

Before school had officially started, there were already many exciting things going on at the school.  For the second year in a row, a group of grade 12 students, including myself, took part in a two-day training course to be Link Leaders for the upcoming school year. 

 Link leaders are the mentors for the grade 9 students joining our Seaway family.  Link leaders ran the grade 9 orientation day on Thursday, August 29th to welcome them and hopefully break the ice for their first day of high school.  

Many thanks to our great teacher supervisors of the Link leaders, Heather Thompson and Lilace McIntyre!

Along with the Link leaders, we also have a new group put together by Lindsay Waddell and Rodney Benton called WEB, “Where Everyone Belongs” consisting of grade 10 students who are mentors for the grade 7 students who are entering Seaway Intermediate.  They also had two days of training and ran grade 7 orientation on Wednesday, August 28th.

Seaway is a busy place and activities start right away.  The first sports to get underway are girls’ basketball, boys’ volleyball and cross country.  Sports teams are a great way to be involved with your school and are also a lot of fun!  Be sure to listen to announcements and make it to the tryouts!

I hope everyone enjoyed a fun, relaxing summer and are ready to get back into the swing of another school year!  

Now, how many days are there until the Christmas Break??!!

[…]

A story teller has to amuse, to entice, to astonish an audience. In the process, she must also give her listeners something to think about.

Evalyn Parry is a story teller. 

And there was much to entice, amuse and astonish in her splendid, thought provoking show, Spin, performed at the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage on Saturday, November 24. 

Parry is an amazing, versatile performer, with a strong vocal range and an equally strong acting range. On Saturday night she shared her stage with fellow musician Brad Hart, and with an unexpected performer, a vintage 1972 CCM bicycle. 

I say ‘performer’ because the bike was an integral part of the Parry’s show, as its frame and wheels were made to ‘sing’ and to accompany her musically at intervals throughout the production. It was really a revelation to me, and I suspect to many in  the audience, to discover how a bike could be such an innovative force in a musical production.

But then, Evalyn Parry’s entire show revolved around bicycles. It also revolved around the extraordinary computer generated images on a stage screen behind her. 

Parry’s focus was the story of Annie Londonderry, a name clearly unknown to virtually all of us in the audience. 

Yet in 1892, this 23 year old mother of three left her husband and children to become the first woman to ride a bicycle around the world. She had numerous adventures, survived through every type of terrain, shrewdly sported the logos of several Victorian sponsors on her evolving riding costumes, and, in the process, could be said to have started a female ‘revolution.’

“What would you do for a fee?/

What would you do to be free?/

What would you do to prove what a woman can be?” Parry sang.

In Parry’s show, Annie and the bicycle become the metaphors for change. 

“…trying to stay free in a world spinning webs to catch us../

We’d never get anywhere without resistance like a foot on a pedal…”

Evalyn Parry’s show was unique, an exciting blend of music, of original vocals, of acting and of technology. She effortlessly slipped in and out of characters on the stage: the pompous businessmen who saw Annie as a kind of travelling billboard, the preachers thundering that bicycles meant the downfall of womankind, since the bicycle was a “sterility machine.”

Spin is full of music, full of sound, full of visual interest. With humour and insight it celebrates the awakening of the female spirit, still carrying on in women today.

Spin is a musical tour de force for artist and story teller, Evalyn Parry.

I have the feeling that she very firmly agrees with the words of H. G. Wells, which were projected on the screen behind her when the show opened.

“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” 

[…]